Paul M.'s profile

   

Beautiful course, super fun, and right through the heart of san francisco. Running across the golden gate bridge was scenic, but a complete mess since that is just about the time that all the flawed seeding gets exposed and you wind up with a bunch of 13 min/mile people who seeded themselves at the front.... It was a great race, but it is hard work - san francisco is HILLY. So do a bunch of hill work before!

   

This race meets its reputation - it is a flat race that was good for a first time ironman like me. But gosh, it is not pretty, nor exciting... I would be hard pressed to do it again. I gave it 4 stars for difficulty because it was my first IM, and since it is an IM, it should be "difficult". But I could definitely see other IM-distance races being much more challenging. IMFL was pancake flat on both the ride and the run, the water was WARM and beautiful (which was almost a distraction since it was so clear). Only downside was a miserable head-wind for much of the bike ride (it felt like it was both directions of the out-and-back) Panama City is also not a place I would like to visit again. Condos were nice and relatively cheap, but the food was underwhelming, and for people like me who had family in tow, there wasn't much for them to do whilst waiting for us to finish the race. The race was very well supported, with tons of volunteers. AND the run course had people for 2-3 miles around the start/finish, which was great since there were two laps, which meant that almost 12 miles of the race had loads of fans cheering you on (and boy were they drunk!). It was a good first timers race, especially if you are skittish about IM-distance, but in retrospect, I probably would have preferred a different (and more scenic) course.

   

Super-cool race - definitely lives up to the hype. It is hard to beat swimming from alcatraz, then riding and running around san francisco on a beautiful day (which we had). The race is really well supported, and since it is so popular and well known, there are tons of people on the street cheering you on. It made me feel like a star - until I got lapped by the race winner... It is a tough race though - all high power, which hurts for a big guy like me. It is a tough swim in cold choppy water, then a bunch of hills on the bike, followed by more hills on the run. And just for fun, they have you run 3/4 of a mile on the beach before climbing the sand ladder. Its hard work for such a short distance... I would definitely do it again though - it was loads of fun and really beautiful.

   

I really liked this race. It was my first half-IM distance race, and I couldn't have asked for more. The scenery on the bike ride and the run was fantastic - bluffs on the California coast. AND they hand out AMAZING burritos at the finish, mmm A few things I didn't like: - not super organized (at least when compared to M-dot races) - they used Hammer products which are gross - the swim is not the most fun - santa cruz water is cold, choppy and dirty - the beach finish is kind of evil - not many hotels/restaurants near-by Overall, I really liked this race (even though I said more negatives). It is a cost-effective half-IM distance race from which I still vividly remember the views.